It is conventionally known to produce a molded article with a pattern by fitting a flat patterned sheet made of paper, polyolefin resins, acrylic resins, polyester resins, etc. to a mold and injecting a thermoplastic resin into the mold. These molding techniques are unsuitable for pattern formation along a surface having a sharp unevenness, such as convexities, concavities and V-cuts. In general, molded articles with a pattern on a sharply cut surface have conventionally been produced by preparing a molded article having an uneven surface and then forming a pattern thereon by printing, hot-stamping or the like post-decorating technique. In recent years, a heat transfer method has been developed, which comprises forming a prescribed pattern on a thin polyester resin film, preliminarily shaping the film to a desired unevenness in agreement with the unevenness of a mold, fixing the pre-shaped film to the mold, and injecting a resin to obtain an article to which only the pattern has been transferred.
However, the above-stated post-decorating techniques including printing and hot-stamping find difficulty in forming a clearly outlined pattern on a sharply uneven surface. On the other hand, the heat transfer method essentially requires an extra step of preliminary shaping the film so as to make a satisfactory pattern. Besides, the positions where the pattern can be heat-transferred are limited because the pattern is brought into direct contact with a high temperature injected resin.